For years BBM has been, unofficially, more than just an abbreviation for BlackBerry Messenger. It’s been a noun: “Hit me up on BBM.” It’s been a verb: “BBM me when you get here”. It’s even been the title of a song…

What BBM is today, however, is an official term in the Collins English Dictionary…

The inclusion of BBM in the Collins English dictionary recognizes its status as one of the world’s most popular mobile social networks. In recent years, the term ‘BBM’ has transcended its technological origins to become a brand that is part of the everyday language of millions of people all over the world… We’re honoured that a word used daily by millions of our customers has been officially welcomed into the English language. — T.A. McCann, VP of BBM and Social Communities at Research in Motion

Despite the problems Research in Motion is having, BBM is not one of them. BlackBerry Messenger is one of the most popular mobile IM clients in existence with over 56 million users, 70% of whom use it on a daily basis.

Although rumors pointing to such a move are pretty easy to find, BlackBerry Messenger, what I believe to be the best mobile IM client of all time, is still only available on BlackBerry devices, and, sadly, has a shrinking potential user base.

Former BBMers, like myself, would return to using BBM on our non-BlackBerry OS smartphone operating systems in a heartbeat, if it were available, but the truth of the matter is that the longer you go without using BBM, the less you long for it.

My youngest brother just graduated from college this past Saturday, and, on Sunday had a graduation party / open house where I was able to see a lot of old friends and family that I don’t regularly see.

One of the more interesting conversations that I got into was if there was anyway that one could run BBM on Android or iOS.

There isn’t, of course, but, the meme that seemed to get started was that it would really be cool if there were.

Most BlackBerry users know that their smartphones are of the most effective communication devices ever conceived, and, when it comes to social media, BlackBerry devices are absolute powerhouses when it comes to checking in, tweeting, liking, and sharing, etc.

You’ve got to, however, make sure you have the right apps installed on your BlackBerry to stay connected socially while on the go, so, we’ve compiled a quick list of Social Networking Apps that every BlackBerry user should install.

It’s another Chicken Wings and Beer episode of the 123rd installment of the SMRpodcast. Rod is on vacation, but, Chris and Robb hold it down and discuss a lot of Windows Phone 8, Google I/O, and RIM possibly splitting into two divisions.

We also debate why or why not developers decide to create Windows Phone Apps, talk about SwiftKey 3, and, talk about the updated Facebook Messenger for both iOS and Android. We’ve got all this and more in episode #123 of the SMRpodcast…

Check out the show…
[podcast]http://traffic.libsyn.com/simplemobilereview/smrpodcast-123_-chicken-wings-and-beer-part-5.mp3[/podcast]

At least a couple of times now I have mentioned on the SMRpodcast that Research in Motion should partner with Amazon to bring their ecosystem to the BlackBerry PlayBook and RIM’s next-generation BlackaBerry 10 operating system.